5/19/17

This review first posted at: https://nepca.blog/2017/05/05/was-america-founded-as-a-christian-nation-book-review/

For tens of millions of Americans, there’s no need to pose
the question raised in the title of John Fea's monograph. Most self-identified
evangelicals adamantly insist that it was, and humanists and political
progressives vigorously assert that the Founding Fathers intended that a “wall”
be erected between church and state. You might expect Fea to side with
evangelicals, given that he’s a believer and a professor at a Christian school,
Messiah College. He doesn’t. Nor does he cast his lot with those who take the
opposing view. As a historian, Fea sees nuances, not nostrums. His is a take that,
depending upon the openness of the reader, will be seen as a rare middle view
within a polarized nation, or will induce outrage.

He begins this edition—the first appeared in 2011—with a
recounting of recent reactions to his work. Predictably, he has been attacked
by both born-again believers and committed secularists. Neither is satisfied
with his insistence that how one answers the central question depends upon several
subordinate questions. These are not political questions, though the debate is
often discursively framed that way. For example, during his values-centered 2016
presidential campaign Mike Huckabee insisted that “most” of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence were ministers. In truth, just one was a man of the
cloth: New Jersey’s John Witherspoon. Fea, however, suggests it really wouldn’t
matter if all had been ministers; hard-right conservatives such as Huckabee,
Glenn Beck, and David Barton fail to define their terms. Was America founded as
a Christian nation? It depends upon what one means by “Christian, “founding,”
and “nation.”

In a careful analysis of Founders such as Washington, Adams,
Jefferson, and Witherspoon, Fea employs the very important concepts of
orthodoxy and orthopraxy, that is, adherence to Christian doctrine and practice
of its precepts. Although he agrees with those who deny that Franklin and
Washington were Deists and that Jefferson was an atheist, all three flunk the
orthodoxy test, and most slaveholders resorted to selective Bible reading to
justify the practice and come up short on the orthopraxy standard. Moreover, it
takes more to be called a Christian than merely seeing it as admirable or
useful for keeping public order. Attempts to make Jefferson into a Christian,
therefore, must be seen as sophistry; Jefferson did, after all, slice all
references to Jesus’ divinity from his personal Bible.

Then again, when was the United States “founded?” Did it
come into being under the Declaration of Independence? If so, the Declaration
indeed mentions God and makes appeals to the guidance of Providence. Fea finds
this at best anecdotal evidence, as those references do not specify the
Christian God and the document’s overall intent was exactly as embedded in its
title—to serve as a political treatise justifying rebellion. If “founding” came
with the adoption of the Constitution, all ambiguity disintegrates, as it does
not contain any mention of a deity.

But what if the nation was founded through the practice of
democracy? What is meant by a “nation?” Had 19th century Americans
been polled, they would have asserted that the United States was indeed founded
as a Christian nation. Christianity was the prevailing belief of nearly every
Euro-American of the day, and few would have imagined a "wall"
between church and state. Jefferson used that term, but within the context of
forbidding the establishment of any official
church. The Founders feared the sort of exclusivity that precipitated Europe’s
wars of religion or Puritan bigotry, but most would have viewed some variety of
Protestantism as necessary for public morality and a healthy body politic.
Moreover, until the Civil War settled the question, the republic was often referenced
as these, not the United States. The U.S. Constitution did not mention God, but
state constitutions uniformly did so and meant the Christian God. Even after
the Civil War, there is little in the historical record to challenge
evangelical beliefs that America was founded as a Christian nation until the
Supreme Court did so beginning in the 1960s.

Fea is willing to concede the evangelicals’ view that this
has been a Christian nation, but he also shows how moments in history have
forced a broadening of what that means. For example, the post-World War II
period has seen the Cold War evangelicalism of Billy Graham, the Americanized
Catholicism of John Kennedy, the activist Christianity of Martin Luther King,
Jr. and the political born-again movements that have coalesced around
conservative Republicanism. Consider how markedly the materialism of the last of
these departs from the Social Gospel movement of the early 20th
century or the Jesus Freaks movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Frances FitzGerald’s new book, The Evangelicals, argues that modern evangelicals have essentially
merged Christianity with capitalism as if Adam Smith had become an honorary
member of the Trinity. I wish Fea had tackled this. Because he avoids siding
with anyone, the bulk of his post-Civil War analysis centers on evangelical belief rather than orthopraxy.FitzGerald shows the deep roots of
evangelical materialism, leading me to wonder how Fea would explain Christian
Donald Trump voters, given that Trump doesn’t pass muster as either an orthodox
believer or as a Christian practitioner. I also wanted to hear from liberal Christians
like Jim Wallis or Randal Balmer. Lea sometimes falls into the trap of saying
that a thing is true if enough loudmouths say so. Not so if orthopraxy is the
ultimate Christian sniff test.

5/17/17

Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to look for common
ground in the midst of rich musical turf. Here's a grab bag for various tastes.

The Waifs make
you grateful that these days genre lines blur. Ironbark(Compass) is a double CD of 25
delights. This Aussie quintet—anchored by vocals from Josh Cunningham and
sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson—is often labeled folk rock, but that
doesn't begin to get it. What's
your musical taste? Need a reminder that you shouldn't ignore the beauty all
around you? Try "Take it In," in which the lead vocal and gorgeous
harmonies bounce off Cunningham's robust acoustic scaffolding. How about
something moody? "Higher Ground" would be at home on Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball. Get your honky-tonk fix
from "Sugar Mama," and indulge in string/swing blues that sounds like
they came from the 1940s in "Done and Busted." Want a country weepy?
"Grand Plan" will bring you down. Curious about yodeling? "Goodnight
Lil' Cowboy" is an outback lullaby that would be home on the American
range. "Not the Lonely" updates the retro girl group vibe but keeps the
kernel intact. Catchy little melodies get a workout in "Important
Things," whose tune and upbeat message are the kind of earworms you want,
and "Dirty Little Bird," has passages evocative of Japanese folk
songs.Then there's the dark and
political, "Syria" that's as good a song I've heard about this tragedy.
Simpson's voice positively oozes the pain. If you're itching for something just
plain beautiful, man, do you have choices: the plea for enduring love in
"Standing Strong," the close harmonies of "I Won't Go Down"
and "The Coast," the praiseful "Amazing Everything," the
Appalachian feel of "Something's Coming," and "The Lion and the
Gazelle," in which Thorn sounds a bit like Emmylou. What a record! And I
haven't even mentioned the poetic lyrics.★★★★★

K Phillips' Dirty Wonder (Rock Ridge Music) has
everything you want in outlaw country: weeping pedal street, honky-tonk piano,
slap-slap drums, twangy vocals, fuzzed out guitar, rolling organ, and grit. Here's
a memorable line from the title track: I
used to grow a beard to cover up the devil's face/But a wretch is still a
wretch in satin or lace. Here's another one from "Coal Burner:" No one looks at the rust and sees the
rain/No one blames the tracks, they blame the train. Maybe it's destiny.
The K stands for Kris and his DJ mother named him for another West Texan: Kris
Kristofferson. Like Kristofferson, Phillips writes about good times and bad,
but mostly bad. In "Rom Com" a promising romance falls apart when
"he caught the wrong ticket and she took the wrong flight." And there's
the delicious line I know for a fact you
didn't call to see how I was from "Don't Wish Me Well," the story
of a dead relationship yearning to be laid to rest. There's also the humorous
but palpably dangerous song about a man on the rebound with his mind on
"18 Year Old Girls:" You should
not be wearing my shirt/I should not have my mind in the dirt. Hey, did you
expect outlaw country to be wholesome? ★★★★

Canadian pop/folk singer and Juno Award winner Ron Sexsmith admits he's a musical
sponge. He counts among his inspirations the 1960s British Invasion (Ray Davies
in particular) and the broad spectrum of Canadian folk music—from Leonard Cohen
to Gordon Lightfoot. He's shared stages with everyone from Arie to R.E.M. and
his admirers include Elvis Costello, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and k.d. lang.
Dylan has performed a few of his songs. He's often compared to Martin Sexton
for his penchant for writing introspective songs and for his ventures into
falsetto territory (though Sexsmith's voice is more quavery). You'll hear slices
of all this on The Last Rider(Compass). Selections such as "Worried Song" and "Upward Dog" would be at home on a Beatles album, and
the latter lifts a snippet of the opening melody line of "Ticket to
Ride." Yet "Radio," inspired by childhood remembrances, is more
Billy Joel-like, "Only Trouble Is" has a killer hook and a memorable
melody line, and "Shoreline" has Caribbean whiffs. "West
Gwillimbury" was inspired by a town name in Ontario that Sexsmith saw many
times on a tour without actually going through it. Sexsmith used that
non-experience as a metaphor for heaven. For uplift, it's hard to be
"Dreams are Bigger," with its instant classic line: If your dreams are bigger than your
worries/You'll never have to worry about your dreams. Some listeners may
find the songwriting stronger than the vocals. Iliked the stripped down offerings better than those layered
with studio production, some of which drenched the vocals, and a lot of which seemed
similar, but with 15 tracks, there's plenty for every taste. ★★★
½

Charlie and the Rays
have a new EPSong of Love, which
is also the name of the second track, an homage to a child. That's appropriate
as the "Charlie" part of the band's name is a tribute to a
seven-year-old who used to hang out with them. The Rays are sisters Jordan and
Rebecca Stobbe, Gracia Bridges and sidemen Jack Brady and Sam Kastner. Like
other Rays' projects, this one centers on lovely three-part harmonies that draw
comparisons to a slicked-down version of the Dixie Chicks. Instrumentation is
kept understated so it doesn't compete with those voices. Wise. We hear this
decision in full glory on a cover of The Beatles' "Dig a Pony," which
is paced slower and missing John Lennon's hard edges, but is bolstered by Bridges'
prominent bass riff. I like everything about this group and it makes me jealous
they used to busk at Seattle's Pike Place. My town has many talented people, but
our buskers—not so much! The Rays' folk/R & B mix is easy on the ears and
long on talent.

★★★ ½

Guthrie Brown is
sometimes compared to Tom Petty, though I find his indie sound more geared
toward the 21st century club scene. His EP, Natural, often evokes images of packed bodies
waving their arms above the heads in time with the groove. This is especially
the case with the title track, with its soulful R & B melody with hints of
funk. In like fashion, his "Wild Child" isn't the amped uninhibited
electric madness of Hendrix, rather a polished ditty aimed at getting the feet
moving. In fact, if the Montana-raised Guthrie had twang in his voice, it's the
sort of song that country musicians use as a bright change of pace. The indie
part? Guthrie is hard to pigeonhole. "Day to Day" is decidedly folk
in temperament, "Lightening" has Paul Simon-like vocal cadences, but
"Stay Gold" has a central hook that flirts with discordance and a
melody and lyrics suggestive of early rock and roll. Cool stuff.★★★
½

Okay, this gets confusing. There are at least three
performers with the name Jess Ray
and two of them sing Christian music. The best of them is based in Raleigh, NC
and has several albums on her résumé, including Pull the Stars from the Sky, 10 songs whose content is praiseful,
not preachy. Ray recorded them in an old mill in a single day with just guitar,
mic, and guitar. Ray's voice has sometimes been compared with that of Brandi Carlile,
but on the new album it's more like Buffy Ste. Marie with controlled vibrato—not
in tone, but in the way Ray uses the reverberant room and spare guitar to
create drama with her big voice. Songs like "After,"
"Water/Wind/Fire," "Set Me Right," and "Come to My
Senses" are as spare as can be, but they sound huge. Whatever your
personal convictions, you can believe in Jess Ray's talent. ★★★ ½

5/15/17

Let's get straight to the point: Elle is a violent misogynist film dressed up as a psychological
drama. It was the French entry for the Oscars' Best Foreign Picture award and
Isabelle Huppert was nominated for Best Actress consideration, but all that
shows is how male-dominated the film industry remains. I will grant that Ms.
Huppert's performance was riveting and courageous, but I wonder what the hell
she was doing in such a film in the first place.

Huppert plays Michèle Leblanc, a woman haunted by a horror
that befell her when she was ten: her wealthy father, seemingly without any
reason, went on a mass murder rampage. A journalist snapped a photo of the
child Michèle staring blankly into space, her face covered in soot from a
backyard burning of papers. Since then, both she and her mother have been
objects of hatred by those assuming they too are sociopaths. Unfair? Well…
mother Irène is a plastic surgery queen who takes up with younger men á la Zsa
Zsa Gabor, a behavior that disgusts Michèle, though one wonders why when she's
doing the same thing minus the surgery. She is divorced, estranged from her
son, Vincent, flirts with younger work colleagues, and sleeps around like a
nymphomaniac. She even has office sex with the paramour of her best friend and
business partner. Her justification? "I just wanted to get laid."

Michèle's job also arouses suspicion. She and her friend
Anna (Anne Consigny) are the founders and creative heads of a video game
company currently at work on a sex-, rape-, violence-, and gore-filled version
of Lovecraft's Cthulhu. Ratchet the drama when a masked man in black forces his
way into Michèle's apartment in broad daylight, throws her to the floor,
bloodies her face, and rapes her. Does she report it? No; in fact, it's days
later before she tells her colleagues what happened, an event she casually
dismisses as unworthy of pursuing further. Besides, she doesn't trust cops. She
doesn't even go to the cops when her company's server is hacked and Cthulhu's
female victim—and why is it always a
female victim?—has Michèle's face?

Is the above distressing enough for you? Wait, there's more.
SPOILER ALERT:Michèle seeks to find out the rapist's
identity so she can understand his dark motives. When she finds out, does she
go to the police? Nope. She has beat-down sex with him a few more times. Guess
she just wanted to get laid.

OK—I get the idea that both the attacker and Michèle are
damaged goods prone to living on the dark side. I get also that both try move
beyond those impulses by wearing disinterested masks. I guess Verhoeven wants
to make the point that Michèle's attacker is the logical extension of the
fantasies she sells. Or do both she and her rapist suffer from a toxic mix of
Piaget-level anxiety, anomie, and existential angst? Maybe Verhoeven is just a creep? He has, after all, given us
peep show dreck such as Diary of a
Hooker, Turkish Delight, Katie
Tippel, Showgirls and Basic Instinct (Tag
Line: You'll believe Sharon Stone has a vagina!)

I am at a loss to understand why Elle captivated critics. It is, as I said upfront, a misogynistic
film—one glommed onto some very silly and unnecessary side stories—Iréne's antics,
scenes with Vincent's total Gorgon of a girlfriend, obvious red herrings—to get
us to a finale that raises the ghoul bar another notch. Yes, Huppert is
excellent. Has she ever been bad? But one wonders why this film needed to be
made. Maybe there are self-loathing people like Michèle running around. If you
know any, for God's sake make sure they get therapy.

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